Square Enix Collective Submissions Closed for 2016

Square Enix has announced the end of the submission period for 2016, as of November 25th. The Square Enix Collective strives to support small, independent development teams with great ideas.

Submissions Closed for 2016

Announced on the Square Enix Collective site, submissions are now closed for the rest of the year. The team needs a little bit of time to settle the details before everybody breaks for the upcoming holiday season. Submissions for the Collective will open again in January of 2017.

Square Enix Collective

The Square Enix Collective is an initiative from the major studio to promote and support smaller, independent developers. The Collective is a curated platform where developers post their ideas. The community then weighs in on whether the ideas are any good or not. The Square Enix Collective also occasionally supports a crowdfunding campaign for the more laudable ideas, via Indigogo or Kickstarter. This unique arrangement allows Square Enix to support independent game studios, and allows the studios to retain complete control over their projects and intellectual property.

The Process is split into 3 phases. First, a successfully submitted idea is published to the community for feedback. This phase lasts 28 days. The collective will poll gamers as to whether or not they would support the idea in a crowdfunding campaign. They’re also encouraged to leave additional feedback comments about the concept.

Around 10 submissions a year make it into the funding phase. If the crowdfunding campaign is successful, the Square Enix Collective does take a small cut (5%) to cover their costs of promoting the campaign.

Once the project has reached successful completion, the Collective may also assist with distribution. The Collective has already approved titles such as Moonhunters (which made almost 4 times its goal), Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander (well over 4 times its target), Tokyo Dark and Children of the Zodiarcs (both 5 times their target).

The Square Enix Collective posted their terms and conditions for submissions here.